I woke up this morning, rolled over, and tapped Tara on the shoulder.
“Hey,” I said. “Wanna buy a house today?”
Turns out she was game. Two hours later, we were chatting with Justin the Realtor in our about-to-be-new-home for the final walk-through. Just one month and two days after our offer was accepted. It’s amazing how smoothly this whole process went. There was nary a hiccup.
Save for some chick named Olive. As in, Winter Storm Olive. She came rolling in during our walkthrough with sleet. And lots of it. I’m used to snow. I’ve dealt with freezing rain before. But sleet is pretty new to me. Turns out, it doesn’t take much to turn the roads into a veritable skating rink. And we still had to drive to the title company in Jefferson, one town over, for the closing. We took the back roads and I drove slowly. I’m happy to report that we made it in one piece.
Another thing about sleet: it hurts! Those little ice pellets pack a sting when they pelt you in the face. I found that rude. Go bother somebody else, Olive!
The title company is in a converted church with an extensively remodeled interior straight out of the Frank Lloyd Wright playbook. Be still my Mid-Century Modern heart!
JTR followed us over, and we met up with the lender and her assistant. The next 30 minutes were spent signing our lives away. It all felt a little surreal. Best of all, once that was done, we were led into another conference room and introduced to the sellers. We were so happy to get a chance to meet Dick and his wife, Carol! That’s something we never got to do with Doris. Though, in all fairness, she was…you know…deceased. Kinda hard to chat up a corpse.
Dick and Carol are very gracious and sweet. We spent about half an hour talking with them and learned some new things about our house. Like the fact that there are blueberries and raspberries, and – are you sitting down, mom? – a peach tree (!) and an apple tree. A Japanese maple. Stunning fall colors. There are goldfish in the ponds, and deer and raccoons and even the occasional mink roam the property. Carol gave us some helpful information about contractors they’ve worked with and Dick offered to stop by sometime, walk us around the property, and point out some interesting things. I would love to take him up on that! They are both very old (in their 90s) and lived in the house for 45 years. It’s gotta be hard leaving behind something you love so much, but I think our passion for the house won them over.
Finally, we wrapped things up, and JTR met us at our car.
“Giving gifts is my favorite part of the job,” he said, and proceeded to gift his heart out. In addition to a card and a bottle of champagne, and a welcome basket that included things like cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and hangover medicine (sure to come in handy once we settle in and can really celebrate), he generously bestowed upon us two Neil Young albums for our vinyl collection. We’d bonded over music early on, and we all have a shared appreciation for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. His generosity brought a few tears to Tara’s eyes. Not only is JTR an excellent realtor, he’s just a downright great guy. Just because our business with him is complete doesn’t mean he’s disappearing from our lives now. We’re friends with his sister Jess, which means by extension we’re friends with him. We’re already planning a summer BBQ at our place.
Giddy over the fact that we were now officially Wisconsin homeowners, we made a quick stop by our apartment to load some stuff into our vehicles and drove over to our new house. Sliding the key into the lock and opening the front door for the first time was a real rush.
Tara had to work this afternoon, but I took the whole day off with the expectation that I’d make several trips back and forth moving things to the new place. With the sleet continuing nonstop and the roads becoming increasingly treacherous, I decided to cut my losses and make just one more trip over. As tempting as it is to spend every single second in our new house, we’ve got plenty of time to get moved in.
Lots of emotions these past few days, from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. Thank you all for your kind words regarding Sydney. And for your support throughout this whole move; not once did any of you call us crazy. You may have been thinking it – hell, the first few weeks out here, I struggled with the idea that we might have lost our minds giving up all that we did to do this thing – but at least you had the decency to keep those thoughts to yourselves.
Driving home, Tara marveled over the fact that everything had gone so smoothly and turned out exactly as we’d hoped, as impossible as that felt six months ago.
“The biggest risks lead to the biggest rewards,” I replied. “We worked hard for everything we’ve ever gotten, and now it’s time to enjoy it.”
I believe that wholeheartedly. You can’t win a jackpot without playing the lottery, and if you want something bigger and better, even if you’re otherwise mostly content, you’ve gotta roll the dice. I’ve been doling out that advice for years.
Is Winter Storm Olive raining (or sleeting or snowing) on your parade? What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken in life? What’s the best advice you’ve ever given or received?
Mark My Words 
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